‘Perfect start’ for Nadal on return

Former world No 1 ramps up French Open preparations with win in Rome

Sports Editor

Welcome back Rafa! In his first match in more than six months, Rafael Nadal swept aside fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta to reach the third round of the Italian Open.

The nine-time Rome winner came through 6-1, 6-1 against 18th-ranked Carreno Busta, a recent semi-finalist at the US Open.

“It was a perfect start for me. It was solid, good shots on the forehand and backhand. I didn’t expect to play that well,” Nadal said.

“Maybe Pablo was a little bit tired from a great tournament there in New York, but thinking about myself, I played a very solid match and very serious and doing a lot of things very well. So very happy.”

Brutal switch

The world No. 2 has not played since winning in Acapulco at the end of February, opting to skip the US hard court tour because of coronavirus concerns.

The 34-year-old will next play either Canadian Milos Raonic or Serb Dusan Lajovic for a place in the quarter-finals.

Nadal, a 12-time French Open winner, is the second seed behind world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the tune-up for the final Grand Slam of the season at Roland Garros on September 27. Djokovic beat Salvatore

Caruso 6-3, 6-2 in his match. But he does not believe the brutal switch from hard to clay surface will be a disadvantage for his rivals at the French Open. “If Roland Garros is this week, maybe yes, [but] Roland Garros is two weeks away so I don’t think so.

“Of course, I have to improve things. But the things that I have to improve, the only way to improve is to keep practicing with the right attitude and intensity and to spend hours on the competition matches.”